Browns install FirstEnergy Stadium signage

CLEVELAND -- The first letters appearing on the South facade of FirstEnergy Stadium were raised on Friday afternoon.

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Browns began the installation of new signage to reflect their partnership with FirstEnergy Corp., by raising the first letters on the South facade of the newly-named FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland on Friday.

The process began at just after 6 a.m., when the 18-foot, three-inch high and 25-foot, three-inch long “FirstEnergy” logo was raised. Shortly after 1 p.m., a 12-foot high and seven-foot long “F” was raised.

“It’s a big day for us,” Browns president Alec Scheiner said. “We’ve got a great partner in FirstEnergy and could not be more excited.”

First-year outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo was on hand to meet with members of FirstEnergy Corp., and Sign-Lite -- the makers of the letters -- and celebrate in the achievement.

“I’m just excited to be a part of it. Just being able to be a part of this is great,” Mingo said. “I’m definitely excited to play in here. I got to go out there a couple days ago and walk the grounds. It’s a nice stadium. I can’t wait to see it full.”

The partnership for the sign work was local in nature, in that both FirstEnergy Corp., and Sign-Lite are companies based in Northeast Ohio.

“The Cleveland Browns and FirstEnergy are deeply rooted within Northeast Ohio, and I think it’s a logical extension for us based on our community involvement, our sponsorship programs of professional teams, the civic community, the arts,” said John Skory, regional president of The Illuminating Company. “To have this Cleveland-area landmark identified in an illuminating way with these wonderful signs, it means a lot to us to have this facility known as ‘FirstEnergy Stadium.’”

The total length of the signage is 186 feet, and the aluminum letters combine to weigh 3,500 pounds. The signs will be illuminated by an energy-efficient LED lighting system designed for this project using green technology.

Bill Holsman, owner of Sign-Lite, said that “hundreds and hundreds of hours of just planning” are required to finish such a project, which is slated for completion on Aug. 2.

“Everything’s done by measurement,” Holsman said. “We manufacture in the shop, and then, we have to lay it all out, put all the mounts in and get it on the wall. The hanging of the letters is sort of anti-climatic to all the work that goes on prior to doing the work.

“It’s exact. We can’t make a mistake. Some things go amiss in the field in any construction project, but you want to minimize this because you’re working so high in the air. These signs are almost 100 feet in the air.”